3 ms·

Also, the top-end of live performance has moved up. Whether it's the amazing line array designs for huge gigs, or Funktion One intensely loud horn-loaded design

Also, the top-end of live performance has moved up. Whether it's the amazing line array designs for huge gigs, or Funktion One intensely loud horn-loaded designs, we get very impressive results these days. This is one reason audio quality is experiencing a renaissance. If you have a club system that will CLEANLY hit 120 dB on transient peaks and you've got it cranked up and there's space in the mix, it's easy to hear where 16 bit audio leaves off (and mp3 is completely not to be thought of, a real bozo move). Mind you, you've got to mix and master stuff correctly to use that to full effect, but some do :)

JohnBooty 5y ago
If you have a club system that will CLEANLY hit 120 dB on transient peaks A very underrated aspect of audio reproduction. I've got a big ol' pair of 3-way "monkey coffin" speakers in my garage as a secondary system. Horn tweeters, 15" woofers. Frequency response is smooth through the vocal range but overall, kind of a mess. Manfacturer cleams 95dB/watt efficiency which is probably somewhat of a lie, but they do get punishingly loud with very little power and will happily take a few hundred watts' worth of juice. Generally I am an objectivist and in many ways this system objectively sucks. And yet, it's a blast to listen to. While not hitting 120dB, it can actually sort of begin to approximate the dynamic range of live instruments like drums. Something that simply can't be achieved without serious firepower. Mind you, you've got to mix and master stuff correctly to use that to full effect, but some do :) Amen. This is actually where I basically... hit my personal end of the road when it came to buying audio equipment. My setups aren't extravagant or expensive, and there is some room for audible improvement, but basically I was hitting the limits of: my listening room, my ears, and like you said -- the recorded material itself. Very little recorded material outside of the classical realm is recorded and mastered in a way that would IMO reward further investment in my systems.
- Applejinx 5y ago
  Depends on what kinds of genres you enjoy. It's real tough to find rock/pop/mainstream/big-room/etc. music that'll make sense with big dynamics, anymore. Especially 'loud' genres have been overloudenated for decades and it's tough to put that genie back in the bottle. If you're interested in house or techno music, though, there are entire genres/artists that leave a lot of space, and those would sound incredible in your garage :) There's a guy who's got a blog post calling out 'what nobody tells you and admits about Funktion One', which, he says, is that they sound bad when there's 'a lot going on in the midrange', which he calls 'resolution'. And his example, which is his own stuff, is fine but the dynamics are real bad and everything's a clogged up mess that doesn't ever budge from 'full volume'. I've got a mixing system that's known-good at being able to resolve what's really in a mix, and it can both resolve 'very dense layers of midrange' and the kind of open, transient-heavy stuff that works on Funktion One. And he's got another, very different, example of stuff suited to the expensive high-dynamics speakers, and that sounds utterly different and also fantastic on my speakers… and great on the Funktion Ones, and most likely in your garage.

JohnBooty 5y ago

If you have a club system that will CLEANLY hit 120 dB on transient peaks A very underrated aspect of audio reproduction. I've got a big ol' pair of 3-way "monkey coffin" speakers in my garage as a secondary system. Horn tweeters, 15" woofers. Frequency response is smooth through the vocal range but overall, kind of a mess. Manfacturer cleams 95dB/watt efficiency which is probably somewhat of a lie, but they do get punishingly loud with very little power and will happily take a few hundred watts' worth of juice. Generally I am an objectivist and in many ways this system objectively sucks. And yet, it's a blast to listen to. While not hitting 120dB, it can actually sort of begin to approximate the dynamic range of live instruments like drums. Something that simply can't be achieved without serious firepower. Mind you, you've got to mix and master stuff correctly to use that to full effect, but some do :) Amen. This is actually where I basically... hit my personal end of the road when it came to buying audio equipment. My setups aren't extravagant or expensive, and there is some room for audible improvement, but basically I was hitting the limits of: my listening room, my ears, and like you said -- the recorded material itself. Very little recorded material outside of the classical realm is recorded and mastered in a way that would IMO reward further investment in my systems.

Applejinx 5y ago
Depends on what kinds of genres you enjoy. It's real tough to find rock/pop/mainstream/big-room/etc. music that'll make sense with big dynamics, anymore. Especially 'loud' genres have been overloudenated for decades and it's tough to put that genie back in the bottle. If you're interested in house or techno music, though, there are entire genres/artists that leave a lot of space, and those would sound incredible in your garage :) There's a guy who's got a blog post calling out 'what nobody tells you and admits about Funktion One', which, he says, is that they sound bad when there's 'a lot going on in the midrange', which he calls 'resolution'. And his example, which is his own stuff, is fine but the dynamics are real bad and everything's a clogged up mess that doesn't ever budge from 'full volume'. I've got a mixing system that's known-good at being able to resolve what's really in a mix, and it can both resolve 'very dense layers of midrange' and the kind of open, transient-heavy stuff that works on Funktion One. And he's got another, very different, example of stuff suited to the expensive high-dynamics speakers, and that sounds utterly different and also fantastic on my speakers… and great on the Funktion Ones, and most likely in your garage.